Kazuya Aoike
was a friend of Tsukushi Makino, whom he had known since grade school. They were reunited when he transferred to Eitoku Academy during his second year of high school. He had feelings for Tsukushi but never pursued her. Only recently being rich, Kazuya often referred to his family as "nouveau riche." Biography Early life Kazuya was born into a modest family of farmers. He became friends with Tsukushi Makino when they were in the same class during elementary school. They lost contact after moving on to different middle schools.Chapter 8, Boys Over Flowers High school During his second year of high school, Kazuya's family struck it rich after selling all of their land. They moved to the Setagaya ward of Tokyo and Kazuya transferred to Eitoku Academy. First days at Eitoku is yet]] Kazuya was "relieved" to hear that Tsukushi was a student at Eitoku from a mutual friend. On his first day, he happened to meet her soon after arriving. The two of them became absorbed in talking about their childhoods. After lunch, Kazuya found a red slip in his locker. He assumed it was a "welcome thing," not knowing that it was actually a sign from the F4 to bully him. The student body then began throwing such things as eggs and natto at him, while the teachers turned a blind eye. After leaving him briefly to confront Tsukasa Domyoji, Tsukushi returned a few minutes later to save him from a bully. She advised him to leave Eitoku, but Kazuya refused saying "How can I leave you to face this alone?" The bullies found them shortly later so they sought refuge in the university's cafeteria. The F4's Rui Hanazawa surprised the room by declaring "It's time to stop."Chapter 9, Boys Over Flowers Tsukasa and Rui had a huge fight about Tsukushi, leading her to forgot Kazuya. She realized he was still there when the guys dropped her on him. Later, Kazuya started preparing to fight against the bullies. He asked Tsukushi if she wanted to go to his family's vacation home in Atami for the summer. Tsukushi passed out while he was still talking. The next day, Kazuya braved the bullies alone since Tsukushi was sick. He was happy to see her the day after.Chapter 10, Boys Over Flowers Later, the two traveled to Atami by train along with her mother and father. Upon arriving, they went sightseeing at several shrines. Kazuya prayed at one that Tsukushi would figure out his feelings for her. Next, they went to the beach where Kazuya showed them his family's fishing boat. They were then shocked to see Tsukasa approaching on his yacht. Later that night, Kazuya and Tsukushi attended his party.Chapter 11, Boys Over Flowers During the party, the lights were turned off momentarily for a party game. When the lights turned back on, Kazuya discovered Yuriko Asai kissed him to their mutual horror. At the same time, Tsukasa and Tsukushi had kissed which devastated Kazuya. The following night, Kazuya confronted Tsukasa about "hurting Tsukushi." He challenged Tsukasa to fishing contest, saying "We'll settle this man to man."Chapter 12, Boys Over Flowers Being experienced, Kazuya was able to quickly accumulate fish. Kazuya made fun of Tsukasa for only catching squid. Tsukasa kicked him in retaliation. Kazuya then accused him of changing Tsukushi from a happy person to her being "sad and angry" all the time. Tsukasa guessed that Kazuya liked Tsukushi but claimed that she was in love with him. They returned to Tsukasa's yacht, where they ran into Tsukushi and started an impromptu cookout.Chapter 13, Boys Over Flowers Fall term and Thomas]] Kazuya returned to Eitoku with a new hope, proclaiming "My cuttlefish created a bond between the masses and the elite!" He was immediately proven wrong when another student threw a can at him and called him an "eyesore." Tsukushi comforted the sorely disappointed Kazuya.Chapter 14, Boys Over Flowers Later that day, he and Tsukushi witnesses Tsukasa go on a rampage. Both were surprised by this side of him. The two started to walk home together, but Tsukushi returned to school to retrieve her notes.Chapter 15, Boys Over Flowers A few days later, Kazuya picked up Tsukushi and her friend Yuki Matsuoka for Shizuka Todo's birthday party.Chapter 16, Boys Over Flowers Yuki spotted several male celebrities. Kazuya told her to pretend not to notice them. A second later, he saw Rio Makise and immediately asked for her autograph.Chapter 17, Boys Over Flowers After Shizuka made her announcement, Kazuya and Yuki rushed over to Tsukushi and talked about it excitedly.Chapter 18, Boys Over Flowers Along with Tsukushi and the F4, Kazuya went to the airport to see off Shizuka. Tsukasa showed him his going away present to Shizuka, a fake snake jumping out of a box. Kazuya passed out from shock. After Shizuka boarded her plane, Rui finally arrived and revealed he was going as well. He then kissed Tsukushi on the forehead, which annoyed Kazuya and Tsukasa.Chapter 20, Boys Over Flowers The next day, Tsukasa went to their classroom and told Tsukushi something before promptly leaving. Kazuya exclaimed "It sounds like he was asking you for a date!" He then said "He can't do that to my Tsukushi," but she did not hear him.Chapter 21, Boys Over Flowers A few days later, everyone began acting surprisingly nice to Tsukushi. Another student, Sakurako Sanjo congratulated her on dating Tsukasa. She and Kazuya then rushed to the bulletin board, where a picture of her and Tsukasa was displayed.Chapter 22, Boys Over Flowers Later, Tsukushi invited Kazuya to come with her to a meet a foreigner named Thomas. He was excited and attempted to speak Spanish to him, despite Thomas being German. Kazuya and Tsukushi were surprised by Thomas' bad manners, such as farting in public. When he left he called Kazuya a "kid," which annoyed him.Chapter 26, Boys Over Flowers A couple days later, Kazuya was absent from school due to the flu.Chapter 29, Boys Over Flowers When he recovered, he happily greeted Tsukushi at school before Tsukasa pushed him away.Chapter 33, Boys Over Flowers A few days later, Kazuya heard from Tsukushi's mother about her being at Tsukasa's island. He charted a course for it on his boat. It took two days for him, Sakurako, and Thomas to reach it. Once there, Kazuya brought them news of Shizuka's engagement.Chapter 37, Boys Over Flowers The next day, everyone took his boat home since Tsukasa had suddenly taken off in his jet by himself.Chapter 38, Boys Over Flowers Stint in the F4 member]] A few days later, Tsukasa had Kazuya arrive at school in a limo and dressed in Armani. He then told him "Starting today, you're a member of the F4," before announcing it to the student body that he was replacing Rui. Kazuya was excited by his stroke of luck and wanted to share it with Tsukushi. Tsukasa, however, told him never to talk to her or Rui again.Chapter 44, Boys Over Flowers Later that day, Kazuya was brought to Tsukasa's house, where Akira Mimasaka and Sojiro Nishikado attempted to talk Tsukasa out of expelling Rui and Tsukushi. They then questioned why Kazuya was there. On their way out, he was grabbed by Tsubaki Domyoji, who forced him to tell her everything.Chapter 45, Boys Over Flowers The next day, Kazuya declared he would leave the school if Tsukushi had to leave. Eventually, a game of basketball was proposed to settle the matter. It was decided that Kazuya would play with Tsukushi and Rui.Chapter 46, Boys Over Flowers The next morning, Kazuya woke up at five in the morning to begin practicing. He acquired several bruises in the process, not being familiar with basketball. Later that morning, he greeted Tsukushi cheerfully, declaring "I can't let you get expelled!"Chapter 47, Boys Over Flowers Before the match began, Rui gave Kazuya and Tsukushi some last minute tips. He tried to follow Rui's advice, but his inexperience got in the way. The F4 racked up several points, before Rui implemented a new strategy.Chapter 48, Boys Over Flowers Kazuya scored one point after Tsukushi missed a two-pointer. While the F4 were arguing about Tsukasa quitting the game, Kazuya took the ball and threw it in the hoop. He declared they were "tied," but everyone ignored him.Chapter 49, Boys Over Flowers Afterwards, everyone, except Tsukasa, went to the Domyojis' to celebrate. Akira and Sojiro tied Kazuya up when they locked Tsukushi and Rui alone together in a room.Chapter 50, Boys Over Flowers A few days later, Kazuya had heard about Tsukasa moving to New York City. He ran up to Tsukushi to tell her at school. Kazuya said "I wonder if he'll let me have you," but Tsukushi did not hear since she had ran off.Chapter 54, Boys Over Flowers That night, he went out with the F4 for Tsukasa's going-away party. Sojiro asked him why he was there and he protested that he was also a F4 member. When Tsukushi was brought up, Kazuya mentioned her money troubles at home to the group.Chapter 56, Boys Over Flowers A few days later, Tsukasa returned from New York. Upon seeing him, Kazuya shouted "The devil is back!" He then accused him of being "afraid to be away from home" and asked him why he came to school with Tsukushi. Tsukasa answered "I slept with her last night," which Tsukushi tried to deny. Before she could clear it up, Kazuya passed out from shock.Chapter 60, Boys Over Flowers Some days later, Kazuya ran up to Tsukushi after learning she was entering a beauty contest. He opposed it since she was "not acting like herself." Kazuya added "I want you to stay the same."Chapter 66, Boys Over Flowers On Christmas Eve, he attended the contest with the F4 and Tsubaki. Kazuya was extremely nervous, even saying "I can't bear to watch anymore" at one point.Chapter 68, Boys Over Flowers Before the second round, he went backstage with Tsukasa, Akira, and Sojiro to wish Tsukushi good luck. He and Akira ended up having to drag Tsukasa out when Tsukushi annoyed him.Chapter 69, Boys Over Flowers Kazuya continued cheering for her throughout the rest of the contest.Chapter 70, Boys Over Flowers After Teen of Japan, he went with the F4 to celebrate Tsukushi being the runner-up. Kazuya claimed that he knew Tsukushi would make it far it the contest. Akira pointed out that Kazuya had said that "she looked like the pauper she was" at one point.Chapter 74, Boys Over Flowers College Physical appearance Kazuya's notable feature was his baby-face, giving him an immature appearance. As such, he was not considered handsome by his peers. He had a gaudy sense of style, shown by the suit he chose to wear at Shizuka's birthday party. Personality and traits Characterized as wimpy, Kazuya was the antithesis of the F4. His humble upbringing was a major factor in Kazuya's personality. Not being used to being rich, he was apt to reference his new wealth to an annoying point. He was also known for committing faux pas, such as when he asked for autographs at Shizuka's party. Nevertheless, he was a good friend and kind person. Kazuya was also often unintentionally comical, similar to Tsukushi's father. Behind the scenes *He first appears in the eighth chapter of Boys Over Flowers. *In "Bonus Story" of Boys Over Flowers Season 2, Kazuya has a cameo appearance as a stage manager. *Kazuya is voiced by Hisayoshi Izaki in the audio drama released in 1993 and 1994. Yoko Kamio enjoyed his performance saying "He really sounded like Kazuya" and "His dialogue with Tsukasa was so funny."''Boys Over Flowers'' volume 4, side-columns *Yoji Ietomi voices Kazuya in the anime adaptation, first appearing in fourth episode. *In Meteor Garden (2001), he is renamed Chen Qing He and played by Taiwanese actor Edward Ou. Ou's portrayal closely follows the manga, though he is given slightly more screentime than Kazuya. Qing He also appears in Meteor Rain (2001) and Meteor Garden II (2002). *Like Susumu Makino, Kazuya is frequently left out of adaptations, including the 1995 film, Hana Yori Dango (2005), Boys Over Flowers (2009), and all three musicals. *Liu Yin Hao plays Chen Qing He in the 2018 remake of Meteor Garden. Author Yoko Kamio was happy to see him in it, due to Kazuya getting cut from the other dramas.https://www.instagram.com/p/Bn68JRtnlYm/ (Japanese) Appearances *''Hana Yori Dango: Margaret Anime Album'' *''Hana Yori Dango: Another Love Story'' *''Hana Yori Dango FF'' *''Hana Yori Dango: Koi Seyo Otome!'' *''Hana Yori Dango: F4 and First Kiss'' }} References Category:A to Z Category:Males Category:Characters Category:Manga Category:Manga characters Category:Eitoku Academy students Category:Tokyo residents